Clark, widely considered Palo Alto’s preeminent architect, had a major impact on the architectural character of Palo Alto. From 1922 when he opened his office until 1976 when he retired, he and his office were responsible for more than 200 residential and commercial buildings in the Palo Alto-Stanford area.
Clark designed in many styles of architecture over his long career, including Spanish Colonial Revival (which he referred to as Early California), Monterey Colonial Revival, Tudor, Ranch, and Streamline Moderne. He listened carefully to his clients and prioritized his client’s budgets, program, and interests over his own interests in style. He worked locally supporting his clients who had the means to build large and elaborately, as well as those who didn’t. He treated his employees well, looked to partner rather than preside, and was proud and supportive of the firms that his birthed. While he may have been more focused on the service he provided than the solutions he produced, the design of his projects was never compromised. Several of Clark’s buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including five in the Ramona Street Architectural District.
Download an FGA map of Birge Clark’s designs: Birge Clark Project Mapping
Learn more about the history of Birge Clark produced by FGA: Birge Clark History Brochure
Birge Clark: The Making of Palo Alto, California
Birge Clark was Palo Alto’s preeminent architect in the past century and was responsible for hundreds of buildings and residences in and around Palo Alto and Stanford University. His impact as a regional architect is pervasive, and he was a major contributor to the Bay Area’s tradition of Spanish and Mediterranean building styles – or as he referred to them – the Early California or California Colonial building styles.
Birge Malcolm Clark was born in 1893 on April 16th, one year before Palo Alto was incorporated as a city and two years after the opening of Stanford University. His father, Arthur Clark, was a professor of art at the University and also an architect who designed homes for several faculty members both on the campus and in the town’s Professorville.
Clark attended Palo Alto High School and graduated from Stanford University in 1914. He continued his studies at Columbia University graduating with a Bachelor of Architecture in 1917. During World War I he served in the Army Air Corps and was awarded a Silver Star. After the war he returned to Palo Alto and began working with his father as the onsite architect for the campus home of Herbert and Lou Henry Hoover which is now a California State Landmark and the residence of the president of the university.
In 1922 Clark married Lucile Townley, the daughter of a Stanford professor; they raised four boys. That year he also started his own architectural firm. His practice rarely strayed from the community which raised him. He considered himself fortunate that in the early years he was the only architect with an office on the peninsula. However, the scope of his buildings ranges from gracious mansions to modest bungalows and from academic buildings to civic and commercial buildings. Three are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1933 Clark’s brother, David, joined the firm and was a partner until his death in 1944. Later partners include Walter Stromquist, Paul Sandstorm, Jonathan Gifford, and Ernest Erickson.
The style for which Clark is best remembered was described by him as Early California. His commercial buildings, especially those on Ramona Street, were influenced by a trip he and Lucille took to Spain in 1930. The small scale of the buildings there appealed to Clark so he created that look by making his large buildings appear to be two or three separate structures. The walls are thick and roofs tiled. In his residences, the main entrance is deeply recessed and often arched. The orientation is to a patio onto which the main rooms open, leaving few windows on the street elevation; he was an active practitioner of passive solar design. His structures are embellished with decorative tiles, wrought iron grills, railings and lighting fixtures, and handcrafted finishes.
Altogether Clark is responsible for nearly 400 buildings in Palo Alto and nearby towns. He also taught in the Stanford Architecture program for 22 years, was a member of the city’s first Historic Resources Board, and was elected to Fellowship in the A.I.A. Clark spent the last day of his life fulfilling his dream of seeing the pyramids in Egypt. He died in 1989 at the age of 96.
The Old Palo Alto Neighborhood
1305 Middlefield Rd, 1932-40 Lucie Stern Community Center
The origin of this delightful California Colonial style complex stemmed from the desire of Lucie Stern (one of the principal owners of the Levi Strauss company by inheritance) to continue her relationship with Clark, the contractor, and mechanics who had just completed two new residences for her. She had enjoyed the project and wanted to continue providing employment for the men during the Depression. The center began with the Community Theater, next came the Ruth Stern wing with a ballroom meeting rooms and kitchen, then the Children’s Theater, Boy Scout office and Fire Circle. The final element was the Children’s Library, which was extensively remodeled in 2006-07 in keeping with the Secretary of Interior Standards.
1247 Cowper Street, 1927 The Norris House
Kathleen Thomspson Norris was the highest paid woman writer of her time. She was born in 1880 and grew up in San Francisco. She married writer Charles Norris. Her romance novels brought her the money to build a 12 bedroom home in Palo Also costing a monumental $81,000. This was the largest and most expensive home Clark ever designed. Retention of a dozen oak trees was an important consideration in siting this Early California style home. It is built around an entry courtyard which is walled in on the street side. Fine decorative tiles and hang-wrought iron work abound. The Spanish kitchen in the garden followed a few years later because Mrs. Norris liked to entertain at barbecues which she herself prepared. In 1946, the Norrises sold the house. Three years later it became the property of the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco which used it as a residence for young priests. Later, Clare Booth Luce had a chapel erected adjacent to the house in memory of her daughter who was killed in a car accident while she was attending Stanford. The house was recently restored to a single family home and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
1990 and 1950 Cowper Street, 1932 Luci and Ruth Stern Residences
The first project Clark designed for his patron, Lucie Stern, was a pair of residences. The original plan was for a single house in Palo Alto for Mrs. Stern and her daughter, who suffered from epilepsy, but the decision was made to build two houses so that daughter Ruth’s episode would not impact visitors. The houses were sited in a common garden. Lucie Stern enjoyed the company of young men and frequently would invite Stanford students over for dinner. She had Clark include a big closet in the entry of the house, which she filled with jackets and socks and other Levi Strauss goods. After dinner, she would let the boys take their pick from the “gift closet”.
In addition to the usual rooms, the one story California Colonial house had extra quarters for household staff. Clark said he felt that 1990 Cowper was one of his best designs. The U-shaped house has a natural flow and incorporates gracious design elements such as a cathedral beamed ceiling, a groined ceiling, and elliptical arches.
Coleridge Avenue Private Residences
Clark designed all four houses on one block. The variety of styles is a testament to his ability to bend the definitions of the architectural styles of his day to meet the requirements of his clients.
455 Coleridge Avenue, 1927
Built for two retired school teachers, who remained in the house until 1952, this house demonstrates a developed Early California style.
470 Coleridge, 1923
Clark later deemed the style of this house to be too stiff to be described as Early California, but it does contain elements of that style‐‐wrought iron balustrades, arched openings and a beamed ceiling in the living room. Major additions were made on the Cowper Street side and at the rear.
512 Coleridge Avenue, 1928
The original owner, George Morell, desired that the house be a replica of the Castro‐Breen Adobe in San Juan Bautista, which is currently on the National Register. Ultimately, Clark decided the style would not suit contemporary living and altered the design, although it maintains a strong early California presence.
526 Coleridge Avenue, 1935
Clark designed this Monterey Colonial Revival style house for a widow, Mrs. Julia Fox, from Indiana who insisted Clark fly out to see her house and be aware of her lifestyle and tastes. As a result, he created a closet space for 100 pairs of shoes and a screen for the front door‐‐the only one of his career. At $6.72 sq ft it was much more expensive than the other three houses on that block.
544 Coleridge Avenue, 1923
This Mediterranean Revival style house was designed for Gus Laumeister, a local contractor. The front door with Palladian reference was unique among Clark’s designs
570 Coleridge Avenue, 1926
Commissioned by James Mortimer Blackburn–the same James Blackburn who later built and owned the President Hotel. It is a Tudor Revival style house and a major design departure from the other houses.
Edgewood Drive Private Residences
The seven homes Clark designed in this single block illustrate his ability and willingness to respond to his clients’ needs and preferences.
1400 Edgewood, 1933
This Early California style home has the typical deeply recessed entry with wrought iron hardware. The window doors join the interior with the garden. The entry, living and dining rooms are unchanged except for the front door. The tile floor in the entry, the wrought‐iron railing on the stairs, the hand‐adzed beamed ceiling in the living room are signature features of Clark’s Early California houses. Multiple additions have been made to the house since its original construction.
1401 Edgewood, 1938
The principal architect for this Colonial Revival house was David Clark, Birge’s brother and partner.
1431 Edgewood 1948
In contrast to his Early California houses this ranch style house has thin walls and a shake roof with a minimal slope. The facade has been changed extensively by another Architect.
1440 Edgewood, 1947
This ranch house with its facade of horizontal Arizona flagstone would seem to be a complete departure from Clark’s Early California designs. Yet the L‐shaped plan and expansive window sills and the banister is made of wrought‐iron although the design is plainly modern. In the living room, three pairs of windows replaced the original three large plate glass windows and in the gallery the original steel mullioned windows were replaced with pairs of doors. Clark was particularly fond of this house. The owners were close friends and he configured the main rooms to facilitate their fondness for entertaining.
1474 Edgewood, 1936
Clark designed this Early California house for one of the original Palo Alto Medical Clinic partners, Dr. Milton H. Saier.
1480 Edgewood, 1936
Like his own home next door, this one, exhibiting a horizontal emphasis on the second story and front door, leans toward Streamline Moderne.
1490 Edgewood, 1936
Clark designed this house for Lucile, himself, and their four boys. The unusual placement of the garage was Clark’s solution to hiding the boys’ automotive projects from the view of his neighbors. In spite of its bent toward Streamline Moderne, traces of Clark’s earlier California Colonial designs can be seen in the L‐shaped plan with large openings to the rear garden emphasizing the indoor‐ outdoor connection. The first floor is largely original except for the kitchen which was remodeled in the 90s creating a large space from several smaller rooms.
Acknowledgements and Resources: Palo Alto History Museum, Birge Clark Society.
Originally produced for the Tour of Birge Clark’s Buildings at the 2009 American Institute of Architects National Convention: “Birge Clark, The Making of Palo Alto”.